car pulling in rain

ok...

so..i've noticed that ever since i installed my new winter tires along with anti-lift kit, front sway bar with endlinks - car has been aligned.

 

that when there is water on the road/raining. that my car pulls to the right when i push in the brakes...actually sometimes it doesn't feel like the brakes are grabbing when i push them in.

 

but i dont get this issue when it's dry. this is highway driving. slow speeds doesn't have this issue . nothing to do with the crowning of the road

 

is this a sticking caliper.? or bad alignment.?

 

brake setup is hawk hps - yes they are crap. and dba 4000's slotted

 

thanks

whats an anti lift?

can u tightin one side of the sway bar more then the other? one side stiffer?

 

just throwing an idea out

the antilift kit that i bought is a replacement for the control arm.

The say bar is on the same setting on both sides.

 

Thanks fo the reply

Wet rotors will have a lower coefficient of friction which will affect the brake torque. The slots should help reduce this effect, but the stopping will be inconsistent until the surface dries from using the brakes. That's probably why the car wants to pull to the right.. the rotors aren't equally wet.

-Franz

ok..

i guess that solves that

I can't see how the rotors can be unequally wet when it's raining.

 

I would tend to think that it's more to do with the tyres.........

well...i kind of found that one hard to believe myself...but i dont know..

i've asked a couple of people i know and the guesses are sticking caliper and/or alignment is off

Then it would be the same in the wet or the dry though.

i dont know then

Check for play in all components. (wheel bearings, control arm, ball joints etc.....) Its pretty common for bad wheel bearings to cause a pull when braking but they won't make any noise like the rotational groaning that is always associated with bad wheel bearings. (I've replaced 3 that have had this problem.) The only way I see it being your alignment is if something was left loose.

Its hard to say i would think if the problem happens only when its wet and not dry would that rule out alot of these things.thought being it would happen all the time.

have you talk to the tire place to see if they have any insight? got me stumpped only when wet part.

when they did the alignment did they check the offset between the front and rear center lines? many shops will ignore that spec because correcting it involves turning the rear toe eccentrics (which are often stuck). you might find that the shop just set the front alignment to match the rear thrust angle. if you get more than a ~20mm of offset between the centerlines, you will get what you described

thanks ~

i'll check the spec sheet they printed out

 

i just looked at it..and i'm not sure what the centreline thing is.

 

it's not on the sheet..

 

i took it to bullock city for the alignment

 

this is what i got

 

front left front right

-0.01* camber -.0.19*

5.78* caster 5.91*

-0.00 toe -0.00

 

 

front

cross camber 0.18*

cross caster -0.13*

total toe -0.00

set back -0.15*

 

 

left rear right rear

-0.69* camber -0.54*

0.00 toe 0.00

 

 

rear

total toe 0.01"

thrust angle 0.00*

 

 

that's all that's on the sheet

Did they really check the toe? Hard to believe they got it spot on like that. And bad toe would cause your issue.

i asked my mechanic today. he's guessing it's the tire - hydroplaning.

 

well...see what happens when i put on the summers- whenever that will be. soon.

thanks ~

i'll check the spec sheet they printed out

 

i just looked at it..and i'm not sure what the centreline thing is.

 

it's not on the sheet..

 

i took it to bullock city for the alignment

 

this is what i got

 

front left front right

-0.01* camber -.0.19*

5.78* caster 5.91*

-0.00 toe -0.00

 

 

front

cross camber 0.18*

cross caster -0.13*

total toe -0.00

set back -0.15*

 

 

left rear right rear

-0.69* camber -0.54*

0.00 toe 0.00

 

 

rear

total toe 0.01"

thrust angle 0.00*

 

 

that's all that's on the sheet

 

I'd measure it then. Just roll the car into the garage with the steering centered. Then attach a string and weight to the center of the front and rear of the car. You can use some tape to mark the positions on the ground. First mark the rear, then roll the car back so the front point is on top of the rear one.

 

oh... and the rear toe setting seems a little odd. I don't have the FSM with me but I seem to remember the stock spec calling for a bit of rear toe-in. in any case, the car will wander less if you add a little rear toe in.

brake setup is hawk hps - yes they are crap.

 

and dba 4000's slotted

 

No, they are great pads. And I compare them to Endless SSM and Ferrodo DS2500.

 

DBA rotors OTOH are crap.

Understanding an alignment sheet is really complicated without the spec's they used. Most alignment racks/computers show where the car is at and what factory specs are. Given that your total toe is 0 they probably used win toe which is the half assed way of setting toe but not likely to cause a pull.

 

However your camber looks off on the front right, and incorrect camber causes alot of strange handling issues.

 

I would find a shop that uses a Hunter laser alignment rack and have them print you out the sheet when they are finished, it will show exactly where the car is at and what spec is. Also tell them not to use Wintow just to be safe.

My halfassed toe alignment method consists of putting a long straight board across the tires, then eyeballing where it lines up with the other set of tires. If they meet, that is 0 toe. Works like a champ. Of course, this only works if the track is the same between the front wheels and the rear wheels, and the wheels are the same size.